Locality Scanner for Helicopter Pilotage and Hazard Avoidance

Degraded visual environment (DVI) presents a challenge for helicopter pilotage, particularly in close proximity to potential hazards such as vegetation, poles, wires, buildings, vehicles, personnel, equipment, nearby terrain, other aircraft, or ship superstructures. To safely negotiate these hazards, the aircrew must maintain a continuous awareness of the environment that can include both static and moving obstacles. In the absence of direct visual cues in DVI, the crew must rely on other means to determine the location and movement of these hazards. Here, we propose the use of active millimeter-wave (mmW) imaging to provide information about the helicopter surroundings in full 3D. The approach relies on the movement of the main rotor for scanning, and on a distributed mmW receiver concept for detection. The captured signal contains all information necessary to determine the position and movement of objects in the vicinity of the helicopter as well as the state of the rotor. In Phase I, Phase Sensitive Innovations (PSI) established the viability of the approach by theoretical analysis and computer simulations. The goal of this Phase II SBIR is to establish the feasibility of the approach by building and flight-testing prototypes suitable for the installation on military and civilian helicopter platforms.